Easier through a top 4 finish

I feel a wee bit of sacrilege hearing Viera's song but its all in fun.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... l-13486191

The 22-year-old is now being serenaded with cries of ‘Torreira woaahh, Torreira woaahh. He comes from Uruguay, he’s only five foot high.’

Carrick wrote in his autobiography:

"On the way home, we got another call. Arsenal again, asking us to meet Arsene. As it happened we were driving past his home in north London, so we arranged to call in on the way. Within an hour I was sitting in the front room of Arsene Wenger’s house, pinching myself.

" Could this really be happening? Arsenal! Could I really be on the verge of signing for the Invincibles who’d just gone through the season unbeaten?"
"We talked for almost an hour about football. Wenger had the Community Shield at the weekend, but was spending an hour with me, so surely he had to be interested in signing me? 'Let’s get Cardiff out the way, and we’ll see you Monday,' Wenger said as we left. Things were moving so fast I needed a few minutes to put it all into perspective.

"That night, I sat at the bottom of my bed and talked it through with Lisa, just running all the possibilities through my mind. It came from nowhere. My head was spinning. Arsenal were finishing either first or second in the Premiership."

He wrote, "On the Sunday, I settled down at home in Theydon Bois, Epping, to watch Arsenal, my team to be, in the Community Shield against Manchester United,

"I saw that a kid, Cesc Fabregas, only 17, started in Vieira’s place. Fabregas played a blinder but I didn’t think too much about the significance. I sat at home on Sunday night waiting for the call to arrange details of the next day. Arsenal! I couldn’t wait."
"But I waited, and waited, and that call never came. The next day, I had to go into training at West Ham instead and, on the way, David [Gold] phoned to say he’d had a call from [David] Dein.

"David relayed the gist of his message, like, 'I’m sorry, the manager says we don’t need Michael. Fabregas is coming through like he is. Sorry, the deal’s off.' Fabregas’ performance changed Wenger’s mind about needing me."
"I was totally devastated as I had my heart set on Arsenal and playing with all that talent. My head was gone. Arsenal had swayed me and I didn’t have a clue what I’d do now."

So, since the league is the easier route, I can forgive Emery for not winning the Europa cup if it meant we had to put the better players in the league match on either side of a European match but I wouldn't mind winning if we had a decent chance at it. A European trophy would do a huge amount of good in the club.

He was still at West Ham went in part exchange with Zamora before the end of the 04 transfer window

Sure! And that’s perfectly feasible too ( plus that definitely time dates it as 04) equally the version with the viera to Real Madrid deal was what was said at the time. Paddy goes through all this in his book , may even mention carrick being lined up then, I no longer own a copy

Sounds simple , As your conveniently forgetting all the 3 rd place CL teams that will drop in which at the moment look like including PSG, Valencia/Man U and spuds amongst others

how wonderful ... two little white knights standing up to the evils of the world .
American spouts all manner of twaddle ... nothing wrong with that .......BUT hasn't got the balls to answer his critics in spite of making the real hard arse statement "us Philly boys tell it like it is "

Now you Babu I II or !III ......ex Chelsea boy .. state Gunfire should spunk in someones anal passages or receive it can't remember which
What a disgusting post and now you and the Yank are playing " the injured party role " ..........grow some gonads

I've been on here for 27 years and of the current posters Bernard , Niall and Daz were here before me ..... so please can this "you were here and don't remember Nial " twaddle .

You and the American would be the two biggest show boaters on this forum ...you demand attention ... and get it .......comments come in good or bad ............... so suck it up .

and please give the " Dear Warrior I've been so mistreated posts" a rest .

grow up you attention seeking w**&%#$## ....... matyre pour le suisse

If in April, if we are still within range of leaders, then should go all out for the title. Worst case, top 4 and ECL. If too far off and still in Europa, go for Europa.

4th place is not a trophy. On perspective, it will be an improvement over the last 2 seasons. We can win the Europa league, if we continue to build confidence and team spirit. Looking good right now.

4th place wasn't a trophy when we were regularly in the top 4 BUT now it is in a manner of speech. At the state we are in, 4th is a trophy. Once there regularly again, its not.

I was discussing The Arsenal with someone and I think had the board sided with Usmanov things would have turned out totally different for Wenger. Two things led me to that belief. First, Usmanov would spent a lot to achieve success as quickly as possible and second, Wenger and Dein would have continued their fine partnership and we would have gotten far better players on average than he had to buy. Just thinking of 'what ifs'.

As far as Europa vs 4th place, why not go after both? But if one has to sacrificed, I'd say the Europa trophy. But I don't think that has to be until the semis or finals. We have enough quality to get past pretty much every club save one or two with some of our bench players like Welbeck.

Must admit I've only been here twenty years this month. I never had access to the internet before October 1998. I started a new job on 1st October 1998, which gave me that access. Looked for the best Arsenal sites soon after and found this one.

Yes you're right. Just checked and Carrick joined Tottenham in 2004 before leaving them in 2006. So he presumably went to Tottenham after Arsenal had lost interest in him that summer, for whatever reason. So it would have been West Ham we got him from. I initially thought Carrick went to Tottenham earlier than 2004, so around 2003. These days I have trouble remembering when Arsenal's new signings joined, so have no chance with Tottenham's.

But Wenger did announce at an AGM how highly he rated Carrick when he was a kid at West Ham. Must have been the late 1990s. What he said left no doubt he wanted him at Arsenal. Wenger never said anything like that again, about any player. My guess is he was asked by a Ken Friar type not to be so explicit about transfer targets in the future.

When Babu isn't have one of his turns, he's a very interesting poster.

So Babu, if you're still listening and haven't complete fried out .... please do stop being an a****** and saying "please ban me". You shouldn't have to require other people to check your bad behaviour. Self restraint is what is needed. Your premature ejaculation is getting out of hand.

.. and would you exchange a walk on part in a war for a leading role in a cage?

Great, a hilarious Irish joke

I would much rather win the Europa League than finish 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the Premier League. Gets us in the Champions League and is another trophy on the honours list. Added to which, it makes the final a terrific day.

I think Arsenal can beat Chelsea. Even if you see Chelsea as the better team, in one off games like the final worse sides than Arsenal have beaten better teams than Chelsea countless times. Even if we get them in a two-legged round, we beat them in the two-legged League Cup semi-final last season. Sure, Chelsea have a new coach who has improved them since then. But so have Arsenal who's had a similar impact. I'm not totally convinced Chelsea are better than us anyway. I don't think it'll be that much of a shock if we finish above them in the league this season.

Been listening to that a lot lately. It's magnificent

It completely depends on who we were facing. If its some Cinderalla club out of the Balkins, no. If its Chelsea, yes.

So if you would sacrifice a Europa League semi-final against Chelsea for a 'chance' of fourth place, you presumably don't think we'd have any chance of beating Chelsea?

the whole floyd opus ...

the whole floyd opus ...

Helicopter crash outside Leicester stadium. Unsure whether the club owner is onboard.

Keep building the confidence ..... lean on the momentum of success and team spirit ..... Emery continue to work his tactical nous with the team ...... one or two good transfers into the team in January ........... and we might not have to worry too much about Chelsea. Belief is back!

Fingers crossed for the best

I assumed there would be some difinitive word by now but sky sports has nothing really. I read in the BBC the word "explosion" , if so, I fear the worst but will pray for the best.

It won't happen (past acrimony and age, 31) but I'd welcome him back with open arms if he was willing to take a reduced role.
Not the favorite player by some or most gooners but he was my "Liam Brady" for a spell. My favorite player after the invincibles left. There may be some dispute to this but I saw Bergkamp as the finest passer I've witnessed in an Arsenal shirt and Fabregas just shades Özil, which is no criticism on Özil. I thought Fabregas saw more of the pitch than Özil with regards to passing. Both bloody good passers though in their own right and if one argues Özil was the better passer I'd certainly take no offense.

https://www.calciomercato.com/en/news/f ... -mes-24925

The coverage I saw showed intense heat so body identification will be difficult I would think. Av Gas of course, so not unexpected. Have seen nothing else but I wish no one such a demise.

"It's messy; it's messy". Indeed.

Leno, Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Torreira, Özil, Iwobi, Aubameyang, Lacazette

Subs: Čech, Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Ramsey, Smith Rowe, Mkhitartyan, Welbeck

Nice to see Holding keep his place, interesting to see Guendouzi come in to start, although Xhaka at LB has a say on that.

Palace struggling to score recently, usually I’d say they’re bound to reverse that against us but I’m starting to feel differently with this side.

2-0 win, 1 each for Aubameyang and Lacazette

Let’s make it 12!

Leno, Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Torreira, Özil, Iwobi, Aubameyang, Lacazette

Subs: Čech, Lichtsteiner, Sokratis, Ramsey, Smith Rowe, Mkhitartyan, Welbeck

Nice to see Holding keep his place, interesting to see Guendouzi come in to start, although Xhaka at LB has a say on that.

Palace struggling to score recently, usually I’d say they’re bound to reverse that against us but I’m starting to feel differently with this side.

2-0 win, 1 each for Aubameyang and Lacazette

Let’s make it 12!

Don't be over confident Arsenal!
Play with committment and intensity. Build on the momentum and confidence with another win.

Makeshift defenders always give me the willies.

2 very close calls. Get a grip Arsenal!!!!!

Lacazette Lacazette Lacazette ....

Bellerin Bellerin Bellerin !!!!!!